The end of the line for Kodachrome

Kodak has closed one of its oldest and most famous product lines, in the latest sign of the film business fading away against the onslaught of digital photography. Kodak announced Monday that it would cease production of Kodachrome, the line of professional quality film that was first developed in 1935 and became one of the company’s pre-eminent brands, known for stunning colors and sharpness. Kodachrome’s prominence may have peaked in the 1970s when it was immortalized by Paul Simon, who lauded the film’s capacity for bright colors with the lyrics, “Mama don’t take my Kodachrome away”. Kodak’s newer and cheaper films, combined with the rapid transition to digital cameras in the past 10 years, have eaten away at demand for Kodachrome, which requires complicated processing. The film now represents less than 1 per cent of the company’s total sales of still-picture films. Here is a link to the press release from Kodak: http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=15359&pq-locale=en_US